The Hurricane Sisters revolves around three generations of women from the same family, starting with matriarch Maisie who is in her eighties and lives with her fifteen-year-younger partner Skipper, who was initially hired by the family to drive Maisie around. Maisie does whatever she wants and doesn't care what others think of her, but she does worry about her daughter Liz and granddaughter Ashley. Liz is struggling with different aspects of her life. Her relationship with her mother continues to be strained, just like the relationship with her two children, Ashley and Ivy; at the same time her marriage with successful businessman Clayton is going downhill. And then there's Ashley; a quirky twenty-something who wants nothing more than to become a successful artist. She falls head over heels in love with Senator Porter Galloway, which fits her dream of one day becoming the next Jackie O. I always really enjoy novels that focus on different generations of the same family. The three main female characters Maisie, Liz, and Ashley were all interesting and had their own story to tell and problems to deal with. I immediately warmed to the family and also liked the setting in South Carolina. With this book, the author wanted to draw attention to the topic of domestic violence. This is a big issue in the area the book is set in, and I admire how the author used this element in the story and it's obvious it's a topic that lies close to her heart. I was not familiar with Dorothea Benton Frank's novels before and it has only made me more curious to read her other novels. (JoH)
